Subj : Re: Joe's policies
To   : DALE SHIPP
From : Mike Powell
Date : Mon Jul 31 2023 09:09:00

>  MP> IIRC, you all are talking economy.  Once this administration is done
>  MP> (and some of their plans will stretch well into other administrations),
>  MP> that Energy policy will put most of us in a position where we won't be
>  MP> able to travel or use many/any household appliances because, if we do,
>  MP> we won't be able to afford anything else.

> That sounds like speculation.  Have you actually seen independent
> studies that make that claim?

I would call it educated speculation.  The appliances that meet their new
standards will cost more as the low-end offerings, that those of low and
fixed income can afford, will no longer be legal.  EVs do and will continue
to cost more as they require expensive batteries (with rare earth elements
mined by near-slave and child labor).  It does not take an economics or
finance major to figure this stuff out.

>  MP> Meahwhile, some of that policy, while making us feel good about
>  MP> supposedly being "green," will continue to ruin the environment in
>  MP> other parts of the World, and at a more accelerated pace.

> Nor do I see how that statement can be logical.  How is what we are
> doing going to ruin the environment elsewhere?

A while back I posted an article about this.  Obtaining the rare earth
elements that are used in EV batteries (and also in cell phones) is not a
clean industry.

I will repost the article with this thread subject.  It was more about
the child labor, IIRC, but it also includes info on the environmental impacts.

Specifically:

The electronic vehicle discussion is "meant to be a green choice in pursuit of
climate sustainability goals. Yet it's utterly destructive to the environment
of the Congo. Our green energy transition -- migrating from internal combustion
engines to electric vehicles -- is built, in large part, from the battery pack
standpoint, on the utter destruction of the environment of the Congo. Millions
of trees have been clear-cut. Foreign mining companies dump all the toxic
effluence from their processing facilities into the water, into the air, the
dirt. Everything is polluted."

> I can see that since some other countries don't do what they should,
> then their environment and ours will suffer.

If the did what they should, the cost of labor and the end product would
skyrocket.  I do believe they should be doing what they should, and our
government should not be trying to mandate us into poverty.  Such mandates
are what lead to the use of child labor and poor environmental practices
elsewhere.


 * SLMR 2.1a * Never check for an error you don't know how to handle.
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
 * Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

.